Graduate Careers

Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO) accounting and business graduates don’t get stuck crunching numbers and staring at spreadsheets. They are involved in the procurement and sustainment of Australian Defence Force (ADF) assets, from fighter planes and navy ships to soldier systems.
Part of the Department of Defence, DMO is Australia’s largest manager of physical assets and currently receives more than 40% of the national annual Defence budget.

If the DMO was a private company it would be one of the largest on the Australian Stock Exchange. The DMO has an annual budget of over $9 billion, and will manage over $100 billion worth of acquisition and sustainment business over the next 10 years. This includes Navy ships and submarines, fighter aircraft, Army combat vehicles and electronic warfare systems. The organisation’s accounting and business graduates contribute to the financial management of acquisition projects and the sustainment of military platforms.

Accounting and business graduates in the DMO are involved in some of the largest and most demanding projects in Australia. With over 230 major projects and 180 minor projects in over 40 locations around Australia and the world, there is a huge variety of fascinating work.

After working in a private accounting firm for several years, Materiel graduate Shelly Lu joined DMO’s team. She said DMO’s appeal lay in the scale and uniqueness of the projects and assets it sustains.
The work Ms Lu undertook while on DMO’s graduate scheme was diverse. It included taking on a finance role in the commercial directorate of the $2 billion Amphibious Deployment and Sustainment project; and undertaking an audit on the company that managed the chartering of the existing commercial oiler, the MT Delos, to the ADF. The ship was purchased and converted to HMAS Sirius for AU$52 million.

‘I gained exposure to a lot of things I would not have in the private sector, including large budgets and unique capabilities’, Ms Lu said.

‘DMO is unique in that the capabilities we acquire and sustain are unlike commercial products. We work in a niche environment.’

‘DMO projects give you the opportunity to expand your skill base beyond finance, and experience new things. I was involved in policy and management issues through my first rotation in Aerospace Systems Division, working on the Defence Management and Finance Plan and the Materiel Sustainment Agreements for all Defence Aircraft Platforms. I was also able to travel to the bases and view the equipment that we were sustaining, something I wouldn’t have been able to do in the private sector.’

‘The training and professional development opportunities that the Defence Materiel Graduate Scheme and DMO offer are an added perk; especially the support given to gaining professional qualifications with CPA Australia and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia.’

‘I am currently studying the CPA program and I am given full financial support as well as study leave’, Ms Lu said.

Materiel graduate Mark Brookes also came to DMO after several years working in the private sector. He said DMO’s appeal came from the size of the organisation; the complex issues dealt with; the challenging work on offer; and the diversity of work.

‘You have the opportunity to participate in multi-million dollar projects’, he said. Mr Brookes’ first rotation was in the Anzac Systems Program Office in Western Australia.

‘The Defence Materiel Graduate Scheme is a good platform to launch your career in Defence, with excellent on-the-job development and training opportunities that are not available in other graduate schemes’, Mr Brookes said.

DMO work is about more than an improved bottom dollar for private enterprise. The organisation enables Australia’s war-fighters, providing the best equipment at the best value for the taxpayer, and helps protect Australia’s national interests.

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